Trash happened to be sitting behind Alexei Sayle at the premiere of Starter for Ten, held at the Coronet in Notting Hill. Alexei was a key member of The Young Ones, the comedy troupe who first brought British student life (outside Oxbridge, at least) to the screen and, like the film, featured a famous episode involving University Challenge. He seemed to be enjoying himself. I was going to challenge Mr Sayle to a few questions but he headed off, driving what looked like a very new car. I resisted asking: hello John, got a new motor? Stars who did stay included cast members James McAvoy, Charles Dance, Mark Gatiss and the charming Rebecca Hall, whose father Sir Peter made a brief but regal appearance. Guests at the Notting Hill Arts Club party were treated to Eighties pop and ironic (I hope!) Student Bop-type catering. No wonder the gorgeous Alice Eve exited hurriedly, accompanied by her (rumoured paramour) and co-star in Tom Stoppard's Rock 'N' Roll, Rufus Sewell.

Talking my language

It has now been officially agreed that the Brad Pitt-starring film Babel, which closed the London Film Festival, will be pronounced 'Bay-ble' here in the UK. Announcing the line-up for the LFF two months ago, Trash did give the film company a deadline of closing night to come up with a definitive pronunciation but American studio execs insisted on calling it 'Babble 'and its star, Gael Garcia Bernal, persisted with a Latino-style 'Ba-bell'. But I can reveal that company reps at UIP, the film's distributor in the UK, had a high-level meeting about this and have opted for the Biblical-sounding Babel. 'It makes sense,' one exec told me last week. 'You were right - we needed to get it straight for the wide release, advertising and awards campaign we're launching early in the New Year, and now we have. And yes, even Brad Pitt has been made aware of the changes.'

My Old Scarlett

Talking of matters linguistic, Trash's Dick Van Dyke award for Best Cockerney Accent must go to Scarlett Johansson in The Prestige. Usually so sexily husky, her attempt at voicing a late Victorian-era moll puts her at the level of a school production of Oliver! During spells shooting two films here for Woody Allen, Scarlett clearly did not immerse herself in the London gutters.

Coming when?

Actually, what's happened to Allen's Scoop (in which, incidentally, you might glimpse The Observer's offices)? It was released on a small scale in America in July but has no imminent release date here. I do hope it will not become, after Hollywood Ending, the second of the master's films shunned by UK distributors.